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Texans Working Out Lots of Players "Behind Closed Doors"

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Lots of activity:

Aaron Wilson ‏@RavensInsider 31m
Texans try out Pat White, Matt Willis, John Skelton, Joe Adams, Rico Richardson Ramses Barden, Mike Thomas, D.J. Stephens David Gilreath
Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 32m
Nope, could stay on Cle PS, their active, or signed w/ another team's active RT @barney71229096 any confirm yet that DJ's picked up by Hou?
Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 34m
They may of had Pat White & QBs in to just throw. That was my initial belief until Pat White's name showed up. Switch off. for Case & Pat.

Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 35m
Pat White played outstanding in Kubiak's system under Mike Shanahan this preseason. IF sticking w/ Case, sign backup w/ similar attributes.

Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 38m
List that @caplannfl tweeted of Texans' workout, inlcluded return specialist/WR Joe Adams & Pat White who looked good in Redskins' preseason
Adam Caplan ‏@caplannfl 40m
#Texans worked out 10 players including WRs Joe Adams, Ramses Barden, Mike Thomas, and Matt Willis and QBs John Skelton and Pat White.

Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 1h
Reading the tea leaves, Dennis Johnson MAY have been signed off PS RT @Browns Browns have re-signed RB Jamaine Cook to the practice squad.
 

WolverineFan

Hall of Fame
Well with WR, KR, and QB getting try-outs it looks to me like backup QB is up for grabs and so is Martin's job.

Now if only we could have ST coach try-outs.
 

santo

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Actually it's Rick Smith and the scouting department trying to redeem themeselves. :specnatz:
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
I saw this yesterday and got too busy to post it. I don't know if it has been posted yet.

Kubiak concerned about Martin's health

HOUSTON -- Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak doesn't think kick and punt returner Keshawn Martin has been himself lately.

"I’m a little concerned about him," Kubiak said. "He did not practice the last two weeks. He took a shot to play in the game, so he toughed it up for his football team. It’s been difficult. I don’t think he’s totally been himself.

"Some of the moves we may make here in the next couple of days could include us finding somebody who can return kicks too, but I think Keshawn will be better. He’s got two weeks now. He had a very beat up shoulder coming out of the game two weeks. I think he’s giving up for his team."

...

Interesting note, a couple weeks ago I asked Martin what he's told about taking the ball out of the end zone. Martin said he is told that if he catches the ball six yards deep in the end zone or fewer, he should bring it out. If he has to take a step back when he catches it in the end zone he should not bring it out, no matter what.
Link.

Aaron Wilson ‏@RavensInsider 31m
Texans try out Pat White, Matt Willis, John Skelton, Joe Adams, Rico Richardson Ramses Barden, Mike Thomas, D.J. Stephens David Gilreath
Other than White, all those guys are receivers. Pat White would likely be trying out as a receiver/returner.
 
Does it really f'ing matter who returns kicks? Are they serious about that? We had someone who turned out to be the best kick returner in the game and he looked like utter garbage here.

Christ, this team is freaking ridiculous. At least when we sucked before we knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel, in this case I think we're going to be stuck with Kubes and his merry men (including Wade- I want him replaced too) for YEARS. God, I am just disgusted with this team. Thank God I'm not a season ticket holder or have any vested financial interest in them because I'd be even more furious. FIRE THEM ALL!!!!!!!!
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
Does it really f'ing matter who returns kicks? Are they serious about that? We had someone who turned out to be the best kick returner in the game and he looked like utter garbage here.

Christ, this team is freaking ridiculous. At least when we sucked before we knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel, in this case I think we're going to be stuck with Kubes and his merry men (including Wade- I want him replaced too) for YEARS. God, I am just disgusted with this team. Thank God I'm not a season ticket holder or have any vested financial interest in them because I'd be even more furious. FIRE THEM ALL!!!!!!!!
 

HOU-TEX

Ah, Football!
We'd be better off not sending anybody back to return kicks. Touchbacks would probably improve our starting field position by 10 yards.
 

Pollardized

Division Champ
We'd be better off not sending anybody back to return kicks. Touchbacks would probably improve our starting field position by 10 yards.
Put that worthless Derek Newton back there to return. He's too damn slow to get out of the end zone before he was tackled anyway.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Joe Adams was terrible with Carolina.
He was hardly used as a WR.........9 games 3 receptions (4.3 yds ave).

As a returner:

23 yds ave (31 longest) for 9 kick returns (7 longer than 20yds), and 11.5 yds ave (21 longest) for 9 punt returns is nothing to snub (2012).

The problem is that he had Jacoby Syndrome..........1 KO fumble and 3 PR fumbles........he lost 3 of those fumbles.............
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
Adam Caplan ‏@caplannfl 40m
#Texans worked out 10 players including WRs Joe Adams, Ramses Barden, Mike Thomas, and Matt Willis and QBs John Skelton and Pat White.
I missed the Skelton mention. That means that Pat White would be considered for QB too.

BOOM.

That's the big story here. We have three QB's on the roster, and we're trying out another. A drastic move is about to be made, and I think it's a Matt Schaub trade. Other than the fact that we're trying out QB's, consider:

- Jeff Fisher has schemed against Schaub for seven years, and has seen Schaub at his best. Schaub would be a major step up from what they have now in Brady Quinn.

- Fans have turned against Schaub. If you doubt that's a major factor, consider how it was the key reason for releasing Jacoby Jones early, according to Jacoby's agent.

After the Texans were unable to work out a trade for receiver Jacoby Jones during the draft, agent Kennard McGuire asked general manager Rick Smith to release his client.

...

But I’ve never seen a player more scrutinized and criticized to the level that Jacoby was. It got to a point where I believe it was almost nerve-wracking for him to perform at the level we feel he was capable of performing. He became Public Enemy No. 1, and that’s unfortunate.
Link.

Jacoby never had his Jersey burned in the Reliant parking lot. He never had a hamburger named after his mistakes. Jacoby never had a replacement at his position who immediately outshined him, yet he still had to move.

Schaub is not Jacoby, but their confidence has been comparably diminished. And they have both been referred to as "Public Enemy No. 1." in Houston. In both cases, a fresh start is/was best for them. It would make sense that either Schaub or his agent have requested a trade in the interest of a fresh start, and to get away from rabid fans. In a way, the success of Keenum in his debut may have been the best case scenario for Schaub's interests, because it provided a smooth exit.

The schism between Schaub and fans is irreparable, so Matt Schaub is leaving Houston mid season. Count on it.
 

Uncle Rico

Ur apology should be as loud as Ur disrespect was
I liked Ramses Barden pre injury, huge receiver.

Rest of them I'm pretty meh about.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
The schism between Schaub and fans is irreparable, so Matt Schaub is leaving Houston mid season. Count on it.
I won't go as far as to say I'll eat my hat if Schaub is traded, but it would be incredibly surprising to see him be moved for a few reasons.

1. He's damaged goods. Nobody around the league is going to give up much for him, and he's not worth building around.

2. He's past his prime. Too old to really be a building block for a team, if someone like Russel Wilson went down for the year, then I could see the Seahawks desperately trying to maintain their status. The Rams, I just can't see doing it.

3. He sucks. 4 pick 6's in 6 games this year, a lack of confidence, and a hurt ankle. No, nobody wants to trade for that player.

4. His contract. Matt makes 7.25 million in salary this year. 3.4 of it has been paid already, 3.85 of it is still due and would be paid by the team acquiring him. That's not too expensive for the new team, but for the Texans his contract is unmanageable. Matt has 14 million in signing bonus that still counts against the cap, and 10.5m of that will be accelerated to this year's cap if he's moved. That means moving Schaub in any way will make him cost at least 17.4m against the cap this year. His original cap number this year was 10.75m, so that's an extra 6.65m that needs to be accounted for.

The Texans currently have 2.848m in cap space, which means moving Schaub would put them 3.802 million over the cap. In order to move Schaub, you would need to find another 3.802 million in cuts for this team to stay under the salary cap. That would require trading guys like Antonio Smith and/or Wade Smith to make it work, and good luck finding anyone willing to pay for those guys.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Dutch, how do you think the cap works in this instance?

Schaub's base salary of $10M and the game bonus of $1M aren't guaranteed, right?

So if we trade Schaub, those amounts should be prorated to reflect the seven games that Schaub were on the roster.

The Texans are responsible for $4.8125M of that $11M.
That's $6.1875M they don't have to pay Schaub, correct?

Schaub is in the book for another $7M in signing bonus (dead money).
It looks to me like the Texans are only short of 812.5K for Schaub.

Let's round it up to $1M even.
The cap space they currently have is more than enough to cover that, and they can close the book on Schaub.

There will be an extra $14.5M in cap space next year to play with

Is there anything wrong with my calculation?
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
Dutch, how do you think the cap works in this instance?



Schaub's base salary of $10M and the game bonus of $1M aren't guaranteed, right?



So if we trade Schaub, those amounts should be prorated to reflect the seven games that Schaub were on the roster.



The Texans are responsible for $4.8125M of that $11M.

That's $6.1875M they don't have to pay Schaub, correct?



Schaub is in the book for another $7M in signing bonus (dead money).

It looks to me like the Texans are only short of 812.5K for Schaub.



Let's round it up to $1M even.

The cap space they currently have is more than enough to cover that, and they can close the book on Schaub.



There will be an extra $14.5M in cap space next year to play with



Is there anything wrong with my calculation?
Someone willing to trade for Schaub? Who would take him? Isn't his contract bloated?



Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
So if we trade Schaub...
Who would trade for an old, system QB with zero mobility and a degenerative foot injury?

The only possibility I see would be if Redskins were playoff bound and had an injury at QB1 or QB2... like when we tried to reacquire Rosenfels.
 

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
Four pick sixes is a row? He's the laughing stock of the league, no one would chance the uproar by bringing him into their team. Schaub is dead weight and deal money now.
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
Dutch, how do you think the cap works in this instance?

Schaub's base salary of $10M and the game bonus of $1M aren't guaranteed, right?

So if we trade Schaub, those amounts should be prorated to reflect the seven games that Schaub were on the roster.

The Texans are responsible for $4.8125M of that $11M.
That's $6.1875M they don't have to pay Schaub, correct?

Schaub is in the book for another $7M in signing bonus (dead money).
It looks to me like the Texans are only short of 812.5K for Schaub.

Let's round it up to $1M even.
The cap space they currently have is more than enough to cover that, and they can close the book on Schaub.

There will be an extra $14.5M in cap space next year to play with

Is there anything wrong with my calculation?
I'm looking at Over The Cap for the info on his contract. The signing bonus money is guaranteed and already paid. It's paid out over the years as long as he plays with the Texans. If you have another source that has different numbers, then I think that's where we differ. It seems to me that you're mixing his salary with signing bonus, but those are two distinctly different forms of compensation.

His salary for 2013 is 7.25 million, spread out over 17 weeks of payments. It's week 8, so that's where I get the 3.4m already paid. That's on our cap for the year regardless. The remaining 9 weeks worth of salary would be taken over by the receiving team.

He has 14 million in signing bonus remaining (3.5m a year for 4 years), and that gets accelerated to this year's cap if he's traded or cut. So that would mean 14 million from signing bonus, plus whatever salary is already paid to him (3.4m), giving us a total cap hit of 17.4m if they move him.

I don't know of any other guarantees made to him. The roster bonuses are for future years, so we wouldn't be subject to them. Guaranteed money for base salaries will move with the player, so the remainder of his salary for this year and any future years that have guarantees will stay with him. I believe only 2013 is guaranteed though.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
DR. I agree and had MS on roster thru this season for the reasons you state of contract. Any chance Browns want to get rid of WR Josh Gordon enough to take Schaub? Risk factor about same & his base and cap are peanuts. I have read that 3 teams have inquired with at least one offer of a player + high draft pick.
 
I missed the Skelton mention. That means that Pat White would be considered for QB too.

BOOM.

That's the big story here. We have three QB's on the roster, and we're trying out another. A drastic move is about to be made, and I think it's a Matt Schaub trade. Other than the fact that we're trying out QB's, consider:

- Jeff Fisher has schemed against Schaub for seven years, and has seen Schaub at his best. Schaub would be a major step up from what they have now in Brady Quinn.

- Fans have turned against Schaub. If you doubt that's a major factor, consider how it was the key reason for releasing Jacoby Jones early, according to Jacoby's agent.



Link.

Jacoby never had his Jersey burned in the Reliant parking lot. He never had a hamburger named after his mistakes. Jacoby never had a replacement at his position who immediately outshined him, yet he still had to move.

Schaub is not Jacoby, but their confidence has been comparably diminished. And they have both been referred to as "Public Enemy No. 1." in Houston. In both cases, a fresh start is/was best for them. It would make sense that either Schaub or his agent have requested a trade in the interest of a fresh start, and to get away from rabid fans. In a way, the success of Keenum in his debut may have been the best case scenario for Schaub's interests, because it provided a smooth exit.

The schism between Schaub and fans is irreparable, so Matt Schaub is leaving Houston mid season. Count on it.
This all sounds good, in theory. And, I agree that they are in full panic mode. Jobs are - or should be - clearly in jeopardy.

But, I just can't see this team trading their QB in the middle of the season. That's not how this team has traditionally operated. They're not in the habit of taking chances or making big moves.

The more likely scenario is they simply bench Schaub the rest of the season and make a move then.
 

Exascor

Veteran
Dutch, how do you think the cap works in this instance?

Schaub's base salary of $10M and the game bonus of $1M aren't guaranteed, right?

So if we trade Schaub, those amounts should be prorated to reflect the seven games that Schaub were on the roster.

The Texans are responsible for $4.8125M of that $11M.
That's $6.1875M they don't have to pay Schaub, correct?

Schaub is in the book for another $7M in signing bonus (dead money).
It looks to me like the Texans are only short of 812.5K for Schaub.

Let's round it up to $1M even.
The cap space they currently have is more than enough to cover that, and they can close the book on Schaub.

There will be an extra $14.5M in cap space next year to play with

Is there anything wrong with my calculation?
Here's ProfootballTalk's article about it if it helps some. I stopped trying to understand the cap crap. It makes my tiny brain hurt too much. Linky
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Who would trade for an old, system QB with zero mobility and a degenerative foot injury?

The only possibility I see would be if Redskins were playoff bound and had an injury at QB1 or QB2... like when we tried to reacquire Rosenfels.
Lead-foot Bledsoe started for two teams after his stint in New England (after an injury that landed him in the hospital for several days); it happened before :)

Moot point now with Schaub's contract.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Here's ProfootballTalk's article about it if it helps some. I stopped trying to understand the cap crap. It makes my tiny brain hurt too much. Linky
Thanks man, I've read that article before.

I'm getting a bit older, sometimes my short-term memory isn't too good.
I knew it's not feasible to trade Schaub this season, but in my haste, I just forgot about it.

My bad.
 

76Texan

Hall of Fame
Also Dutch, while you're here and since you're the expert (even though you kind of overestimated last time), can you weigh in on what you think we're going to get compensatory-wise for next draft? 76 seems to think we're getting a hell of a lot of picks coming and I am saying we might get one. Here's the thread:

http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101791&highlight=compensatory
I'm thinking two, not a boat load, LOL.

A 4th or 5th and a late rounder (6th or 7th).
 

ChampionTexan

Hall of Fame
I saw this yesterday and got too busy to post it. I don't know if it has been posted yet.



Link.



Other than White, all those guys are receivers. Pat White would likely be trying out as a receiver/returner.
Is Martin's health-issue something that effects his depth perception? He's appeared clueless as to how deep in the endzone he is much of the time.
 

Bronco Texan

Waterboy
I don't see Schaub traded, but possibly put on IR? Kubiak and company have to know that is Schaub is ran onto the field again the stadium would break the Chiefs decibel record in boos. So if his foot is bad enough to keep him out of a few more games maybe they thinking to just put him on IR, and then just cut him at the end of the season. Then they can just focus on evaluating Keenum and Yates for the rest of the season.
 

DX-TEX

#TomSavageDontCare
Texans had QB's in to throw to WR's they were looking at. No intention of signing a QB.

Why is this so hard to comprehend by some?
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
Texans had QB's in to throw to WR's they were looking at. No intention of signing a QB.

Why is this so hard to comprehend by some?
That's reasonable, but why wouldn't the Texans use their own backup QB's? Why spend the money to fly in a resource that they already have in-house?
 

JCTexan

Hall of Fame
Texans had QB's in to throw to WR's they were looking at. No intention of signing a QB.

Why is this so hard to comprehend by some?
I think your scenario is more likely but what if the Texans are planning on IR'ing Schaub and are looking for a third string QB? White or Skelton could be signed to back-up Yates.
 

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Four pick sixes is a row? He's the laughing stock of the league, no one would chance the uproar by bringing him into their team. Schaub is dead weight and deal money now.
Jacksonville....
...no one goes to their games now anyway.
:hides:
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Schaub won't be moved until June 1st cuts come. I heard he will be a 3+million dollar hit then...
I think he can be designated as a June 1st cut now. That would mean they would get nothing for him. Bad as we think he is, some team might think a change of scenary would benefit him.
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
ProFootballTalk is acknowledging the purpose of Skelton and White to simply throw to the prospective receivers, but they can't resist the temptation to speculate on other implications:

John Skelton and Pat White also worked out, presumably for the purposes of throwing the footballs.

Still, with Matt Schaub still injured, there’s at least a chance the Texans were curious about either quarterback. In fact, it’s possible that the seven wideouts were brought in to provide cover for what otherwise would have been an obvious desire to kick tires on Skelton and White, which in turn would have led to more speculation that Schaub won’t be back for awhile.

That ultimately remains the only plausible explanation for coach Gary Kubiak’s recent proclamation that Schaub remains the starter. Kubiak possibly knows that his starter won’t be back any time soon.
Link.

I've criticized ProFootballTalk recently for not doing their research when commenting on the Texans. I'm wondering if this reporter was aware of Kubiak's recent statements about Keyshawn Martin's health, which makes the receiver evaluations a legitimate need.
 
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